A military hero in the Reform Wars, Porfirio Diaz was also one of the strategists behind the overthrow of the empire by Republicans. Several times he tried to attain power through military coups, but was defeated until a last revolt in 1876 took him to the Presidency of the Republic. Except for a short period of four years, he governed until 1911, when a takeover by Francisco I. Madero forced him into exile. He lived long enough to see his revolution fall apart and all of his gains destroyed by his own lengthy stay in power. As a hero or sly weaver of intrigues, Porfirio Diaz learns, fights, plots, governs, kills, pacificies, loves, suffers, cries, devotes himself to his work and does not abandon it until his own people rise up to expel him.